


Ripple Effect

by firefright



Series: Talon and the Hood [15]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Codependency, Dick Grayson is a Talon, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Identity Issues, M/M, Memory Loss, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26071759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright
Summary: Blue and Jason are finally together again, but the former's time under the care of Batman and the rest of the family won't be so easily forgotten. Safe, at least for now, there's no choice for them but to start working through the ramifications of everything that came to light for him there, as well as dealing with the consequences of Jason's own actions to save him.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Series: Talon and the Hood [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/305364
Comments: 52
Kudos: 284





	Ripple Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, hey, so... I did not mean for it to be so long before I returned to this universe. This year really has been so much of a blur, though, not just for me but everyone. Thankfully, we're finally here at the start of the next part now. Much gratitude for everyone on their patience in waiting to see what happens to the boys next.
> 
> (Also, as another note on the same lines, I want to make a big general thank you to everyone who's left me comments on any of my stories the past couple months. I've really been struggling mental health-wise and finding the energy to respond the way I'd like to has been an uphill struggle. I really do love and appreciate every single one of them, though <3)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Jason can’t stop watching Blue as he sleeps.

It’s only been a day since he got him back from Gotham, back from Bruce and the family, and he can’t take his eyes off him. Not for an instant. Too afraid, from the parts of him that never recovered after a childhood spent abandoned and alone, that if he does Blue will vanish again, like a puff of smoke through his fingers, and this time Jason will never, ever get him back.

A week. It had been almost an entire week that his partner had spent in their hands, and Jason curses himself for not saving him sooner. For not gathering the resources he needed quicker. For needing inside help to do it in the end. For not preventing Blue’s capture from happening in the first place, nevermind that it had been Blue himself who told him to run back in Bludhaven. To save himself to save _him_ later.

God, what a good job he’d done of that.

The moonlight streaming through the thin, gauzy white curtains at the open window next to the bed paints the hard lines of Blue’s face silver, softening them and highlighting the blue undertones in his hair. As quietly and gently as he can, Jason brings his hand up to brush the scarred backs of his knuckles against his partner’s cheek, reassuring himself yet again that he’s real and not just another wistful dream.

They haven’t talked about what happened yet. Not really. At first, because there was no time as they fled from the manor, and then because there was no privacy, as Jason’s allies saw them here to this new hideaway, far away from Gotham’s streets. And after they did get here… well.

Jason’s heart aches with the memories of the kisses they’d shared. The way Blue clung to him, shaking in his arms even as he raked his fingers over and over again through Jason’s hair after they collapsed down to the bed together. They’d had no energy or will for words then. All they’d wanted was to hold each other, breathe in each other’s scent and feel the warmth of their bodies tangled together, soft and intimate in a way that was beyond sex. Beyond anything but an expression of deepest love and affection.

It had taken a long time, hours maybe after that, that Blue had fallen asleep on him, one hand curled possessively around the back of Jason’s neck, while the other rests, palm flat, against his chest over his heart. Jason knows he should have followed suit. He hasn’t slept properly since their last night at home in their apartment, and at this point he’s basically running on fumes. But if he closes his eyes, if he doesn’t stay awake and vigilant…

The thought of cold and empty sheets beneath his hands is all the motivation Jason needs to tighten his resolve.

“I’m never letting you go again,” he promises, whispering the words like a prayer he hopes Blue can hear even in his sleep. “Not ever. No matter what it takes, or what I have to do. I love you, Blue. I’m so sorry I let them take you.”

If he were awake, Blue wouldn’t let Jason apologise. Not for any of it. But now his partner’s asleep, Jason can say sorry all he wants. For this, and everything else.

He should have been better. Should have been faster. Should have seen them coming in the first place, rather than let himself and Blue be ambushed the way he had. It doesn’t matter that he still doesn’t know how Bruce tracked them home. How he and Harper found their apartment. Jason should have _known._ Should have done something _right_ for once in his life and protected the man he loves. The man who, still unbelievably at times, loves him in return, even though Jason is far from deserving of it.

“I’m going to make it up to you.” Letting his fingers brush higher over Blue’s cheekbone, Jason swallows hard. “Whatever it takes, whatever you want, whatever you _need_ … I’ll make this right again, Blue. I swear. I’ll—”

“Jason.”

For a second, Jason freezes with fear that his partner has actually been awake the entire time he’s been talking. But then his brain catches up with his gut, and he realises that the voice speaking now is softer, more feminine, and has a completely different accent than Blue’s.

He didn’t even hear her open the door to their room, and it’s yet another reason he has to hate himself.

“Talia,” Turning his head carefully to look back over his shoulder, Jason reluctantly eyes the beautiful woman standing in the doorway. She hasn’t changed much since the last time he saw her, always looking close to perfect, from her long, carefully styled hair to her exquisitely applied makeup. The effect of which is only accentuated by the outfit she’s wearing today; a two-piece top and long skirt in rich al Ghul green.

He’d expected her to come see him. Of course he had. He knew she would have questions for him when he brought Blue here, but he’d also hoped… “Can’t this wait til morning?”

Talia’s jade eyes are as hard as the stone itself. “No, it cannot. In the morning, he will be awake, and then I suspect it will be even harder to get a minute’s conversation alone with you.”

Well, she’s not wrong there.

“If I move now, he’ll wake up.” Jason tries, as a last ditch protest.

“I taught you better than that.” Talia shakes her head. Then her expression softens slightly, and she more gently adds, “We will not go far, and remain where you can see him. No harm will come to him here, you know that. I give you my word.”

For a moment, heart thudding like a jackhammer in his chest, Jason still considers refusing, before — with extreme reluctance — he begins the slow process of untangling himself from Blue. Like it or not, he does owe Talia. He owes her so damn much. If all she wants in return (so far) is a little explanation, then he can give her that. 

Even if it does feel like he’s tearing his heart out of his chest to move away from Blue again so soon.

A solid minute later, he’s finally free of the bed, padding with carefully quiet footsteps over the tiled floor towards Talia, who steps back out of the doorway to allow him to join her in the next room. True to her word, they don’t go far. No further than that, really. She stands with her back to the bedroom and Jason faces her, positioning himself carefully so that he’s still able to see Blue curled up on the bed over her shoulder.

Then he waits, dreading the accusations he knows are coming next. The demands to know why he didn’t tell her the truth sooner. But instead, he’s surprised when Talia merely tilts her head at him, eyes gently assessing before she reaches out and brushes a rogue lock of hair away from his face. “You look exhausted, Jason. When was the last time you slept properly?”

“I…” The dry pads of her fingers are cool against his skin, making Jason swallow thickly and sway a little on his feet. “I don’t know. A week ago, maybe?”

Her eyes narrow, and before she can say what Jason knows is coming, he quickly adds, “I’m fine.”

“No, you are not.” Talia’s fingers continue to comb back his hair, and Jason can’t decide whether he wants to tear himself away from the maternal touch or lean into how comforting it is. “I can have a sleeping draught brought for you, if you are having difficulties.” Her lips quirk. “Or perhaps a simple herbal tea?”

“No, thank you. It’s not…” He licks his lips, then shakes his head. “Just ask me what you want to know, Talia. Please. I promise I’ll sleep after.”

“Very well.” Her eyes narrow as she drops her hand back to her side, resting it on one well-curved hip. “That man on the bed is Richard Grayson.”

“Was.” Jason corrects her tiredly, but without any of the usual venom he’d use for people making that mistake. “He _was_ Richard Grayson. He calls himself Blue now.”

Talia tilts her head thoughtfully, but doesn’t argue. “Eight years ago, he went missing while travelling the country by himself. A body was never found, but all believed he was dead. Explain that to me.”

Jason grimaces at first, but after folding his arms across his chest, does so. 

He tells her about the Court of Owls. He tells her about the horrible realisation of Dick’s disappearance that came only after Bruce had already picked Jason up off the streets. He tells her of tracking the shadowy group down, and the discovery of what they’d done to the first Robin. He tells her about what happened after.

Then, in softer tones, he recounts encountering the last Talon alone himself in the city, months past the Court’s fall. An inexperienced songbird against a larger predator. He tells her of the strange friendship that had followed. The gifts and quiet memories. The slow, _slow_ winning of trust. He tells her what he’s never told anyone else of that time, before skipping ahead to after his death and resurrection. Of how, upon his return to Gotham, he reunited with Blue after so many years apart, and how it was him, not Jason or Bruce, who finally put an end to the Joker.

Finally, he moves onto Bludhaven. Blue choosing his name. Their efficient destruction of the established criminal hierarchy there before Bruce found them, and Jason’s desperate solicitation of Talia’s aid to rescue his partner back from him as a result, as well as the full details of how liberation actually ended up coming about.

She says nothing throughout the story, merely listening with a thoughtful air. Then, when he’s done, softly sighs and leans against the doorframe. “Why did you not tell me this before, Jason? Did you believe I would use him against you?”

“Not against me, no.” More like someone else who they’d both had a bone to pick with at the time. Jason shifts uncomfortably, ashamed despite himself of the way her lips immediately purse in disapproval. 

“I see.”

“No, I didn’t mean...” He reaches up a hand, rubbing at his face furiously like he can somehow scrub the exhaustion from it. “Look, it just didn’t seem like a thing you needed to know at the time, all right? And Blue... he’s one of the few real good things that’s ever happened to me in my life. He means more to me than anything else in the entire world. What’s between us is between _us_. No one else. I’m grateful to you for everything you’ve done for me, Talia. You know I am. Now more than ever. You saved my life, and now you helped me save him as well. But he…” 

Jason breathes hard, like he’s in the middle of running a marathon rather than just a simple speech. “I’m allowed privacy. _We’re_ allowed privacy. Especially from anyone else who might only be interested in him because of who he was and not who he is now.”

Talia looks at him for a long moment after he finishes. What is running through her mind, Jason honestly can’t tell. She is so many things to him, somewhere between the balance of ally and friend, and even more uncomfortably than that, _mother_. But one label he has never applied to her and never wants to is ‘enemy’. 

He hopes she’ll understand. He hopes she’ll…

“You really do love him, don’t you?”

Jason swallows thickly at the question. “With every fibre of my being.”

“And the divide between who he was then and who he is now, is it truly so great?”

Folding his arms across his chest again, Jason shrugs. “I never knew Dick Grayson, but I know Blue. And...” He closes his eyes as he breathes in. “I know I’ll do anything in my power to defend his right to be the person he wants to be.”

A warm hand touches the bare skin of his arm, and swallowing hard Jason opens his eyes to look at Talia again.

“I have no interest in turning your Blue back into the man he was again, Jason.” she says. “And as for using him against my Beloved… Well, judging by your story, Bruce has already done himself the damage there. I do not know if I could ever devise to do him greater, nor do I wish to any longer. Not at this point.”

Jason stares at her, stomach churning still. “Talia…”

“You know, when I first took you in off Gotham’s streets and sought to heal you, it was with a mind to give you back to him, healed and whole, and so win back his love again.” Talia’s expression is distant, drawn in contemplation. “But then, as the months went on, I found myself growing attached to you. Caring for you as yourself, and I realised you were not just some tool to be handed back to him as a gift. You deserved the chance to make your own decisions on what you wanted to do with your life, with all the facts necessary to make those choices first.”

Jason’s mouth suddenly becomes very dry. “Even with the Pit’s influence working on me?”

“Even so. I cannot deny that how you acted when you first came out of the Lazarus Pit scared me a little,” Talia muses, “but despite what my father believed, I knew you were stronger than the water's influence.” Her hand lifts and moves to his chest. “Your _heart_ is stronger, and you broke free of their control all on your own. I do not regret my choice to put you in there at all.”

Jason wants so very badly to lean into her then. To lean into the maternal energy she exudes towards him, but their relationship has never been like that. He doesn’t know if she’d even allow it, if he tried.

Removing her hand from him a second later, Talia shakes her head. “Return to your lover, Jason. _Sleep_. You have given me much to think about, and I would like to speak with him myself tomorrow.”

Feeling weak at the knees, Jason nods. “I’ll ask him if he’s ready to. After everything he must have gone through there, I don’t know if he’ll…”

“The day after then, if necessary.” She moves aside for him, out of the doorway, leaving the path back to the bed and Blue clear.

“Okay, okay.” He moves to walk through, then wavers. He still isn’t certain he won’t be asked to repay the debt someday, but... “Thank you, Talia. For everything.”

No response is given, except in the way she reaches out to press her hand firmly against his shoulder and push him further into the bedroom.

Fair enough.

Jason stumbles the rest of the way back to the bed himself, grateful to hear the door latching shut behind him. But his knees have barely touched the edge before a pale hand is reaching up to grab him by the front of the shirt.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to get up.” Blue murmurs, as he pulls Jason back down to the mattress, and more importantly, against his chest.

He goes willingly, of course. Relieved to have the warmth and solidity of his partner’s body against his own again, as well as that dark, if rough and sleep addled, voice in his ear. A reminder to Jason that he is loved and wanted, and that no matter what else may have happened in-between then and now, Blue is still the same possessive bastard he’s always been. Still unwilling to let Jason out of his sight and sound for more than a minute, if he has to.

“I know,” he whispers back, arching back into the press of Blue’s fingers as they slide up over his shoulder to his neck like a cat, “I’m sorry. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have. Trust me, there’s nowhere else on Earth I’d rather be right now than with you.”

“That was Talia al Ghul.” Blue says, not really a question, and when Jason looks up at his face, it’s to find blue-gold eyes looking back into his own, so bright against the darkness that they make his breath catch with how beautiful they are. Like he’s just seeing them now again for the first time, despite it being only a couple hours since the last time he looked into them.

“Yeah.”

“The woman who saved you. Who brought you back.”

“That’s her.”

“What did she want?”

“An explanation, mostly.” Jason shudders as blunt nails scratch under the base of his hairline. “For you. For why I never told her about you before. And…” he licks his lips. “I think maybe she just wanted to see how I’m doing, too.”

A myriad of expressions flicker over Blue’s face. Alarm flowing into wariness, before finally settling on reluctant relief. “She cares about you.”

“Surprisingly.”

The fingernails dig sharply into his skin, causing Jason to hiss as Blue’s voice turns stern in disapproval. “None of that now, little bird.”

Little bird… The familiar nickname settles into Jason’s stomach like warm milk, heavy and comforting, as he sighs and ducks his face down against Blue’s throat. “Sorry.”

“None of that, either.”

“None of what?” He blinks. “Saying sorry?”

Blue’s fingers tug again at his hair. “You’ve said it too many times today already.”

From Jason’s perspective, it’s the opposite. He hasn’t said it nearly enough. Never could for what he’d let his partner go through. He doesn’t want to upset Blue more by telling him that, though, so keeps it to himself, locked deep down inside the back of his throat. It’s much nicer, anyway, to simply press a kiss to the long line of Blue’s neck in apology. To taste the slight tang of sweat being in an unfamiliar climate has brought to them both, and hear the affectionate hum Blue makes in response. “Fair enough.”

“Was she angry with you for it?”

It takes Jason a moment to grasp at the change back in topics. “For not telling her about you?”

Blue nods against his hair.

Jason shakes his head slightly. “I don’t think so. Annoyed, maybe, but not angry. At least not after I explained it to her. She wants to talk to you herself, though, when you’re ready.” 

Tired as he is, Jason would have to be dead again to miss the way Blue's body tenses back up in response. “Why?”

“Probably just so that she can make her own judgement of you.” Jason kisses Blue’s neck again to sooth him. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s really asking. What he’s _afraid_ of, and Jason regrets more than ever missing his chance to beat Bruce bloody for it. “She’s like that. But like I said, you don’t have to do it until you’re ready to. Or at all, if you don’t want.”

Talia would disagree with him, of course. She said tomorrow, or the day after, but Jason will fight her tooth and nail for Blue’s right to keep to himself here if he has to. He’s already been interrogated enough.

Unsurprisingly, Blue shudders, and his fingers bury themselves deeper into Jason’s hair, holding onto it like a leash. “Did she know Grayson, too?”

There’s no point hiding it. “Yes. But not the same way they did. Talia and him… they were never friends. I don’t think they even liked each other that much. She was always more interested in Bruce than him.”

Blue hisses softly, but seems to relax again at the last part even as he shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk to anyone else now but you.”

“I know.” He slides his hand up Blue’s chest, resting it over the spot where his heart is slowly beating. “Don’t worry about it, all right? Whatever she says, whatever I have to do, I’ll make sure you have the time you need. I’ll keep you safe.” _The way I didn’t before._

It says something that Blue doesn’t argue that, or at least insist that it’s his job to keep Jason safe, too, the way he usually would. Instead he shifts a leg over Jason’s hip to hook around his waist, wrapping himself around him like a cocoon.

Just like earlier, there’s nothing sexual about it, but it brings the continued sense of closeness they both need after too many days spent apart. Jason pushes his head further into Blue’s hand, at the same time as he nuzzles in deeper against his neck. They spend the next few minutes like that, just resting against one another, feeling the warmth of the other’s skin and the reassuring rhythm of their pulse. 

It’s enough to make Jason drowsy. To call to the exhaustion that’s never been far from him since they got here. But still, he can’t give into it, no matter how much he wants to. Not while Blue needs him.

Not while Jason still needs to see Blue to feel reassured.

And eventually, after a long enough period has passed and he’s sure his partner remains awake as much as he does, the question he’s so far been afraid to ask once again rears its head. “Blue, do you… Do you want to talk now? About what happened. About—”

“Tomorrow.” The reply comes without hesitancy. There’s no need for Jason to finish the sentence; Blue always knows exactly what he means, even when the topic isn’t as obvious as this one is. “Not now. Not… I have questions for you, too, and we’ll both answer them better with some more rest. Especially you.”

“I’m fine,” Jason tries to protest, but even as he says it, the words come out as thick and slurred as if he’d been drinking. “I mean… I can handle it, if you need me to now. Whatever you want.”

Blue shakes his head, chin brushing Jason’s hair. “What I want is for you to sleep, little bird.” His fingers rub gentle circles over Jason’s scalp, before he more quietly adds. “And for you to let hold you some more.”

One of those things is far easier to do than the other, but now more than ever, Jason wants to please Blue. Wants to do anything that will give him even a moment’s relief after all he’s been through. Even if that action is the last thing in the world he wants to do himself.

“Okay,” he sighs, “If that’s really what you want, I’ll try.”

“Thank you.”

Jason swallows hard before reluctantly closing his eyes. “You’ll sleep too, right?”

“Just as soon as you do.”

It’s such a Blue thing to say, Jason can’t help but laugh hoarsely before quickly sobering. “I really missed you, Blue.”

He’s said it before, so many times already, but it’s not enough. It will never be enough.

“I know, Jason.” Blue’s lips are gentle against his forehead. “Me too.”

It takes a while longer still, but eventually, Jason’s exhaustion can no longer be ignored or put off. He’s together again with his partner and, at least for now, he knows they’re safe here. They are. All other concerns can wait for the morning, as lulled by the steady sound of Blue’s heartbeat beneath his ear, he finally drifts off into a deep, and blessedly dreamless, sleep.

**Author's Note:**

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